Computer systems including personal computers, workstations, hand held devices, etc. have been utilized in an increasing number of applications at home, the workplace, educational environments, entertainment environments, etc. Peripheral devices of increased capabilities and performance have been developed and continually improved to extend the functionality and applications of computer systems. For example, imaging devices, such as printers, have experienced significant advancements including refined imaging, faster processing, and color reproduction. There have been desires to provide color printers which can accurately produce a satisfactory printout of what is displayed on the screen of a color monitor.
Numerous challenges are presented to coordinate color appearances produced with two different physical systems (e.g., a monitor and a printer) to provide accurate and pleasing color reproductions and to balance accuracy and the pleasing-nature between different applications. Part of this problem arises from the subjective nature of color. Color is a sensation produced by the combined effects of light, objects and human vision. A particular color or combination of colors may be appealing to one person while at the same time be offensive to another.
Another part of the “satisfactory”-color definitional problem arises from the different color technologies used in computer displays (e.g., monitors), color printers, and other color-presenting devices. In general, these technologies diverge dramatically. For example, color presentation by cathode ray tube (CRT) computer monitors and television sets may be based on a color gamut defined by red, green and blue (RGB) CRT intensities. Color presentation by printers, such as inkjet printers, may be instead typically based on a color gamut defined by cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK) printed-page colorants. The RGB color intensities of CRT screens are combined together in an additive way by mixing red, green and blue light rays from a first class of physical substances (e.g., phosphors) to form a first variety of different colors. The CMYK components of color inks, a second and entirely different class of physical substances, are applied to media in different combinations in a subtractive way to form a second variety of different colors, and the three chromatic elements CMY are only nominally the complements of the RGB intensities.
More recently, high-fidelity imaging devices (e.g., digital color presses or printers using more than four colorants) have been introduced to provide improved color reproduction. For example, light cyan and light magenta colorants may also be utilized in addition to the conventional cyan, magenta, yellow, and black colorants to provide improved color reproduction with smoother color gradients. Additional examples include Hexachrome™ devices which also utilize orange and green and Indichrome™ devices which also utilize orange and violet in addition to CMYK colorants to enlarge the gamut of the device. Various design issues are presented by the utilization of devices with more than four colorants. More specifically, issues concerning the association of data from a received color space to the native color space of a device are presented.